Pet Shipping 101 program

I recently conducted a training program for IPATA call Pet Shipping 101…this one in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. We had a small group of relatively new people to the pet shipping industry, so it allowed for lots of comments and shared experience. One attendee has focused strictly on ground transport. For a long time IPATA never had a members doing ground (road) transport, as most of us focused on air shipments. Road transport does certainly have a place though. Some breeds and even some individual pets should not be sent by air. Currently is is nearly impossible to move certain breeds by air; namely English and French bulldogs, and some other snub nose (brachycephalic) breeds.

This is because these breeds already have a hard time breathing, and may normally not get as much oxygen into their blood as other dogs. When you add in some stress, heat during the summer, confined areas (like a crate) they can become ill, or worse, die, during air shipment. The airlines do not want the negative publicity that comes with a pet death, even though the problem is the dog’s anatomy, not the airline handling.

All this said, there are companies who can do ground transport really well, and others not so well. Just like any industry, there are good apples and bad apples. If you plan to work with a ground transport pet company, talk to them enough to know they understand the dangers. Ask how they handle rest stops for walks and water, how often, and when they quit driving for the night. Don’t plan to have them driven as fast as possible with no or few stops. Check the IPATA website to see if they are a member in the ground transport section.

And understand if the pet is too old, too frail, or unhealthy, ground transport may not be an option either. Since it takes much longer than a few hours in the air, stress levels may increase continually, and cause the body systems to shut down.

In the northeast, give us a call or complete the estimate form on the website and indicate you are interested in ground transport. We’ll be happy to help within a 8-10 hour radius fro our location.